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Thursday, 20 September 2012

Meaningful Lyrics

Here at From the Rookery End, we try to be as balanced as possible, and as part of that we welcome opinion from all Watford fans. We were therefore absolutely delighted when Kelly Somers got in touch to say she's like to share her thoughts with us and the rest of the world. Below is Kelly's first piece for FTRE - hopefully the first of many. We've no doubt you'll enjoy it. As always, feedback is most welcome.

If, like Kelly, you want to get involved then email us - podcast@fromtherookeryend.com - and we'll see what we can do. So here is Kelly's first FTRE blog post, reflecting after the Brighton home game.

Come on You Horns!

******

Hearing Coldplay belt out ‘Yellow’ at the
Paralympic Closing Ceremony just a few weeks ago sent tingles down the spines
of the majority of the nation. But what sent further tingles for me was seeing
the Watford contingency of my Twitter feed sharing the lyrics (myself included)
with a Hornets-esque tribute on the end. After all, in many of our minds, that
song was surely written for us.

So, how very apt that when walking into the
stadium on Tuesday night, that the same infamous song was blasting through the
stadium as the players warmed up. Once again, the tingles were in my spine –
the Horns were back at the Vic after the international break and a couple of
indifferent, for want of better words, away results.

My excitement was soon subsided though as I
made my way to my seat, as the feeling a little bit deeper within me soon
resurrected itself – for my Mum behind me asked to stop and watch the players
warm up to try and get a close up glimpse of ‘these new boys’, so she
recognized them when the game began.
And so there that feeling was again, that feeling of uncertainty, that
linger of worry nestling amongst the quiet excitement currently around WD18.

So as happy as I was to be back at the Vic
– a place that has felt like home to me for some 12 plus years – there was a
sense of worry and I am not ashamed to admit that. But, as I tweeted upon
arriving home from Tuesday night’s defeat, upon reflection, I refuse to be
downbeat.

The first aspect that caught my eye was the
passing, and the ball retention, - for the first time it started to look more
convincing, and let us not forget we were playing against a side who themselves
can pass it too – a side arguably who Mr Zola is modeling us upon. And when
putting it in perspective compared to his good friend and opposition manager
Gus Poyet, our manager has made these changes - changing a side often reknowned
in previous years for it’s ‘hoofball’ style - in just two months, in comparison
to the opposition manager’s two years.

Yes, there were no goals, and these have,
unavoidably, been hard to come by, and I am still struggling to decipher a 15
goal man, or even a ten goal man. But lets not forget a certain Troy Deeney
will, like it or not, soon be back in contention having played this week in a
behind closed doors friendly, and Vydra on his day is more than capable of
killing a game. And there are still the possibility of Beleck making an impression,
and Geijo when fit.

And whilst I was unconvinced with the
defence - particularly with Neuton at centre back - and I am unsure of
Nosworthy’s longevity in this squad, they too are starting to gel and are,
starting to come to terms with the inevitable difficulties we have had with set
pieces. Chaboulah – though appearing to come on in midfield, is allegedly a
defender, and looked comfortable and assured on the ball and though may also
provide a welcome addition to solidify our previously leaky back four.

And of course, how can I not mention our
multi talented, goal scoring, loveable, stalwart defender Lloyd Doyley here –
for he put in a remarkable second half shift against agonizingly impressive
former Hornet Will Buckley– again showing yet another manager why he just
cannot, for all his attacking shortcomings, be overlooked for selection.

For me the stand out performer on Tuesday
night though was Fernando Forestieri – who even managed to link up well with
the eternal under-achiever Mark Yeates, and tick the boxes we have waited so
long for him to fulfill. Forestieri was exciting, and quick, and took on, and
beat, defenders with confidence and conviction – something Yeates has never
particularly done, with his strengths lying in set pieces and crosses. He even
managed to link up with the former, and whilst I feel that Murray and
Forestieri would now provide our most exciting two wingers, perhaps Yeates can
play with the Italian if necessary.

So yes, it was still a defeat, and these
defenders did not stop the goal, nor did any of our impressive play lead to any
goals (perhaps here I should also thank the referee for his part in this – but
this is not part of this particular argument), however perhaps for me the most
heartening aspect of the defeat was the manner of which it occurred. We did not
lay down and die as we did against Derby, and the hoards of fans who left early
after the lacklustre home defeat to Ipswich were still in their seats upon the
final whistle. For this time we showed character and spirit and whilst we have
this, I believe we can progress.

The players fought, and chased down every
ball and they continued to do so, even when struggling to break down a
resilient, and settled Brighton side. For me, seeing the reaction of the
players when they missed chances, and particularly Zola’s when the referee
dismissed our second and rather blatant penalty appeal (for those not watching
he did an interesting fury sparked dance and threw his coat off in disgust for
another member of staff to retrieve), I felt relieved. And the players, both
home grown and not, remained on the pitch at the end, applauding the Hornets
faithful – something of which was non existent compared to the previous
‘Italian revolution’ under he who must not be mentioned -
Gianluca Vialli. These players, and staff, may or may not have had much choice
when joining us, but they are here and they clearly want to impress.

So, having gathered my thoughts and feeling
surprisingly heartened at what I saw, midway through the second half on
Tuesday, I bought a programme – something I don’t often do. I wanted to try and learn more about
our new squad, as I decided that if I don’t attempt to buy into it, I may get
left behind.

And before I am accused, of being
disillusioned or as a romanticist, I am by no means suggesting we are the
finished product or anywhere remotely close. However what I do put to fellow
Hornets fans is this – the signs are bright, and this is the situation at hand,
whether ideal or not, so let’s get behind the boys, and be part of it, not
against it, as if not we may just miss it, in the words of Coldplay, ‘turn into
something beautiful’.

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8 comments:

This doesn't really tell us anything. My problem is the new players wont care in January when its wet and windy and will be counting the days till they go back to udinese. How can you say Chaboulah will soldify the back four when hes only played one first team game in his life and he was in midfield. Plus you sound very over optimistic about our strikers especially Deeney who was only released from prison last week. We should have signed a prolific championship striker like Sam Baldock.

I don't think the Pozzo family are the sort of people to welcome players 'back to Udinese' if they haven't been performing. The reason the loanees are with us are twofold. 1) To improve Watford, and 2) To improve as individuals, thus making them more valuable. By not performing for Watford, they won't be achieving either, and the Pozzo family don't accept second best.

Why would they want players in their Serie A side that can't perform at a lower level? They don't and the players know that. I don't buy the assumption that just because they are on loan, they don't care. These are professionals who want to succeed.

Hello Anonymous... The blog is an opinion piece, not a news information piece. Being an opinion piece Kelly's views on how Chaboulah and other strikers might help the team.

Your comments about the new players not caring in January are unfounded. How do you, me or anyone who doesn't know these individuals know how they will be motivated in any month of the year.

And it's nice to see you voicing an opinion about how we should have singed Sam Baldock. I suspect that his price tag was beyond our financial means. And those financial problems have just gone away. We don't seem to be a buying club just yet!

Good article Kelly.There were definitely lots of positives to take from Tuesday - Forrestieri, Doyley, Chaboulah and unbelievably Yeates (who looks a lot better playing centrally rather than wide).The worrying one for me is big Nos, who doesn't look anything like as good without either Martin Taylor or Mapps alongside him.

So there are lots of encouraging signs but I am concerned about other aspects; the seemingly inevitable shipping out of our own young players and the future of Harefield Academy.It is going to take me a long while to accept that a downgrading of our acedemy is a good thing.

Surely the massive influx of loan players is going to have a negative impact on the players currently coming through the acedemy ? I accept that Murray and Hoban have had new contracts but I must admit I am struggling with my 'emotional attachment' to the current Watford team.

The fact is footballers dont care as much as you think. They on the whole get paid alot of money and have very long contracts. In essence alot of these Udinese players will be happy to do their "time" at watford and then go back to Udinese.

I dont see how £1 million can beyond our means. Most of these players we have Zola doesnt want its nani who chooses them. We all know how well Nani did at west ham..

This is where i don't understand these posts. How can you struggle to have an emotonial attachment to the players, they are playing for the club and if you have done your research foresteriri, battochio, ekstrand, neuton and fanchone have been offered to the club so watford have the option to sign them after there loan periods, so they definetly have something to play for. Last season Dyche signed about 9 players permanently the majority for nomial fees and free transfers. What is the difference between the emotional attachment to those 9 players who were in my opinion pretty poor signings, any different to 3 permanent signings 6 loans with the view to buy ( whats wrong with trying before you buy) and other loanees who are blatenly too good for us.

My comment about emotional attachment is the same reason we proudly sing that Sean Murray is 'one of our own'.

Would Lloyd Doyley be held in the same affection if he had come to the club a couple of years ago rather than joining as a ten year old ? Probably not.

Those players get a little more licence when they make a mistake, because we think they think they are one of ours.

I accept that we have always signed new players, but never to an extent where it is quite possible that very soon we will field an entire team who were not at the club the previous season.

I don't really buy into the idea of players not 'caring' - I think that is a bit of a myth to be honest and ceratinly nobody could accuse Vydra and Forestieri of a lack of effort.

But loaning 15 or so new players is not a case of adding to what we already had and building something better but still the same, it is a brand new team entirely. Some fans may be quite happy with that if it means promotion, and becomimg a 'big' club but for me we will have sold part of the soul and fabric of what Watford FC is all about.

Please don't think I am being totally negative - some of the football we have played has been excellent and there is no doubting the quality of the players that have come in. And I don't have too many concerns about the Pozzos themselves.....it is the people they have placed in charge of the club (excluding Zola) who I am worried about.